Assessment of landslide susceptibility using statistical modelling in the flysch zone of the Western Carpathians (NW Slovakia)

ABSTRACT

Landslides represent one of the most frequent geodynamic phenomena in Slovakia. This contribution focuses on the relations of the selected landscape attributes and landslides in flysch area of the Western Carpathians. We presented three statistical methods of assessing and making a prognosis of the landslide hazard: multivariate, factor and zonal analysis. These methods complement each other and their aim is to analyse and recognize natural processes, which trigger the landslides in a more complex way. With multivariate analysis, we evaluated mutual interactions between the input attributes and determined their level of impact on landslide hazard. Using factor analysis, we extracted latent factors with the highest factor loads and identified the main factors that could trigger landslides. Areal extension of landslides in individual landscape attributes was expressed by zonal analysis, based on the superposition of the individual vector layers. Our evaluation shows that the slope predisposition to landslides is predominantly given by the geological, hydrogeological and morphological conditions. The proposed landslide risk assessment procedure allows for the functional sustainable development of the landscape development planning documents. The results presented in this paper are relevant for the area formed by flysch rock (Alps and Carpathians), but also for areas where clastic sediments alternate rhythmically.

KEYWORDS:

• Landslide hazard
• landscape attributes
• statistical methods
• geographic information systems (GIS)
• Western Carpathians
• flysch zone

Acknowledgments

The contribution was prepared within the grant project of the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic and the Slovak Academy of Sciences No. 2/0132/18 “Historical and present changes in the landscape diversity and biodiversity caused by natural and anthropogenic factors.” The authors would like to thank to Mgr. Zuzana Molnárová for preparing the English text.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by The Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic and the Slovak Academy of Sciences [2/0132/18].